


Sea Wall

by ERNest



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Flirting, Other, Pre-Canon, Season: COUNTER/Weight, September Institute, Stargazing, Trans Character, Trans Mako Trig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 19:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20376904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ERNest/pseuds/ERNest
Summary: “There’s parts of me that are off limits,” he says as he guides Truck from one rock to another and takes a moment to steady hir.  “And words you just can’t say, or not about me, anyway.”Mako and his partner in dalliance take a breather while sneaking into the September Institute. Some things are mapped on the body.





	Sea Wall

Mako leads one of the townies along the sea wall so they can get into the campus without being detected and have a good time. This is not a low-risk scenario by any means, and the payoff may be minimal. But they got to talking in that club and then hir touch was so sweet that Mako didn’t want to let it melt away like so many things have before, so here they are.

“There’s parts of me that are off limits,” he says as he guides Truck from one rock to another and takes a moment to steady hir. “And words you just can’t say, or not about me, anyway.”

“Yes, of course. And spots you have to touch in a certain way or not at all. Sometimes you just need someone to make you believe in the places that aren’t even there, you know?”

Oh, I know.” Better than he lets on, even. It sometimes feels like he’s reconnecting with half of himself when he logs onto the Mesh, some essential line of code he left behind the last time. “Speaking of what’s not there, you’ll want to step to your left there if you don’t want to fall through the rock hologram. It’s only even there to maintain the aesthetic perfection of the shoreline” He rolls his eyes like he always does at the slavish devotion to appearances. “But after _that_ there’s a ledge where we can rest if you want.”

Truck’s legs dangle a safe distance above the relentless waves, but hir head is thrown back to take in the sky. “I don’t think the stars are brighter here than in Mode City,” ze declares at last. “It’s more like they come into focus out here, and each one’s distinct instead of part of some blur.”

“That’s probably because the Mesh is so concentrated around the Institute. So even if you’re not a stratus, some part of you is seeing with your own eyes, but also whatever cameras or satellites are catching the view, and all the star maps that have ever been uploaded make sure that what you see is exactly where it should be.” He’s never actually noticed the difference so he’s speculating based on what he _does_ know, and it’s at least semi-plausible.

“Okay, I guess that makes sense, maybe, but wouldn’t all those views get even more muddled together.”

“Well sure, and then your brain works harder to make sense of all those messages and forces you to believe what you’ve been told to expect, even if that means ignoring how far off that is from reality.” He bursts out laughing when he hears himself, thinking about bodies, and names, and tradition, just as much as stars. When Truck catches on ze joins in with a giggle as light as champagne and punctuated by little snorts and hiccups. Mako’s never seen anything quite so beautiful, and when ze catches him staring he just shrugs and says. “Or we’re out of the light pollution cast by the Pleasure Dome. One or the other. Come on, let’s… uh, dorm room.”

“Or we could stay where we are,” ze points out sensibly. “I’m having a good time, aren’t you?”

“I am, yes. It’s just, I’d hate to drag you all this way and then we don’t even make it to our destination. There’s plenty of nicer stargazing spots than a bunch of falling-down rocks. You could take your pick of blurry or crisp, and we wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught by Campus Security.”

“Yeah, maybe next time.” Truck stands up and offers Mako a hand. “But you’re right, we’ve come this far, might as well go all the way.”

“Next time?” Mako’s glad it’s dark because he can hear the blush in his own voice. “I mean yeah, we’ll see where tonight takes us and then I sure hope there’s a next time!”

“Good. After this, scaling the walls to your bedroom should be a breeze, right?”


End file.
